Forever Jack
by Leisure
Summary: Jack Sparrow DIES a painful yet somewhat humorous death...Short and sweet.


A/N: Just sos y'all know, there is no real plot here, and there's not SUPPOSED to be one, so don't get after me for that. The bad guys are not supposed to be specified, nor is the situation. And please don't flame me just because I think Jack needs to die. I've made a few changes because I just can't leave well enough alone.

Forever Jack

Beads of sweat slowly roll down my forehead. I lean against the cool wall, struggling against the blackness threatening to overpower me. When I try to catch my breath, a pain, sharp like the edge of a cutlass, tears though my breast, and I gasp- I cannot breathe. A thin stream of blood drips past my lip, and I know I'm dead. However…I cannot go down without a fight. _That_ would be quite uncharacteristic.

I summon the last of my strength and fire off a few rounds at the damned turncoats crawling over the docks, the traitors who slaughtered my mates. Not a single bullet finds its mark. They reply to my pitiful attempt with a careless spray of shot. A musket ball lodges itself between my ribs and my legs buckle beneath me.

_Damn you…damn you all._ I collapse. I made the stupid choice to help them, and this is how they repay me, tearing apart the docks and waging a war against those who have never done them harm. All because of me.

Elizabeth is running, clutching a pistol, screaming my name. Cannon fire shatters the harbor and I fear for her life, but after an eternity, her shadow passes over me and she drops to my side. Her face turns as pale as bone when she sees the bullet holes.

"Bastards!" she wails, pressing her hands against my chest in attempt to stem the flow of blood. "Oh God…"

"Don't bother, darling," I whisper, but Elizabeth will not listen to me. Her pretty fingers are soon stained with crimson and my breath grows ever shorter. I close my eyes and listen to the wood breaking and the gulls calling and the clatter of swords. They are pretty sounds, really. They remind me of glory. I can taste the blood at the back of my throat.

"Jack, don't give up!" Elizabeth takes my hand.

"I'm just resting a moment," I murmur. I force my eyes open, only to see Will, dashing down the main street like a blacksmith from hell. As he draws nearer, I recognize the mark of the cat o' nine across his shoulders.

"I came as quickly as I could." He kneels beside Elizabeth. Blood drips from the cuts covering his back, and yet I see no pain in his eyes. His bravery is unparalleled, that is for certain.

"Will." The weakness in my voice disgusts me. "What did you get yourself into?"

"Oh…" he will not look at me when he speaks. " I tried to stop them from taking the Black Pearl."

"Aye." It does not matter to me whether the Black Pearl floats or sinks down to Davey Jones' locker, because every last shipmate of mine now lies dead upon the shore, their throats slit and their souls cast to the ocean floor. I am the only one.

"Can you stand?" Elizabeth asks, her voice still fierce with determination.

"Not a chance." I've taken eight bullets to the chest and that is enough for anyone. I now catch the pain in Will's brown eyes as he touches Elizabeth's arm. They both realize now that there is no saving me.

I cough once, then twice, and it hurts, it really does hurt. I am by and large used to pain, my God, I am used to pain, but this…this is unbearable. I sit up, choking on blood, but the effort is too much and I fall back again, my chest heaving. Elizabeth gently wipes the blood from my face with the hem of her dress, but it will do no good; a steady river of scarlet trickles from my mouth and there is no stopping it. But her touch is comforting, and I somehow find the strength to talk.

"Will…" I can barely hear the sound of my own voice, and that is what frightens me, really frightens me. He leans in to listen. I draw a breath that fairly rattles in my chest before I speak again. "The Black Pearl needs a captain. If you wish to fight, if you can take it back from those murdering bastards, it will be yours."

"No. I couldn't," Will says quietly, blinking furiously. "I'm sorry, but even if by some miracle I managed to take it, every time I climbed aboard that ship, I would remember…you're her captain, Jack."

"You needn't say anything more, mate," I reassure him. "I care not. But if you won't take it, will you sink it for me?" Will seems confused by my request, but I don't expect him to understand. He is still young, still so unsure. I can relate. After a moment, he nods.

"All right." He retrieves my sword and hands it to me, and for the last time I feel the smooth metal beneath my fingers. I love it. I love it. The pain stabs me like the deep bite of a dagger, bearing swiftly down on me, and I am drowning.

Elizabeth, weeping softly, lays my head in her lap, sparing me from the cobblestone. Will is crying as well, but his tears are not shed without shame. I grin, in spite of their misery, but somehow I am not happy. This isn't right. The blade of my sword is still sharp; I should be fighting alongside Will and Elizabeth, shouting orders to my crew, taking back my bloody ship, for God's sake, not cast upon the stone, helpless and broken. This is not my death. It never was my death.

Elizabeth is sobbing now, and her tears run down my face, along with the sweat and the blood and the dust. I hate to watch her fall apart like this. It's worse than anything I am about to face.

"It's alright, love," I whisper. I can keep my eyes open no longer

"You have given us so much, Jack." Her lips touch my face. "I'll miss you." _I'll miss me too, darling…I'll miss me too. _Will's rough hand grips my shoulder.

"Jack…" he murmurs. He tries to say more, but his voice breaks. I wish he wouldn't cry. I laugh weakly, for no reason at all. The bright glare of the sun fades, and I feel weightless, like a cloud settling over the harbor, though the pain has become intolerable, cutting me, burning me, killing me. Yet I smile again, in spite of everything, because I leave knowing that I lost myself, and found myself again, on the deck of a ship with black sails, with black sails and freedom.

I leave knowing that I am forever Jack, nothing more, and nothing less. Pity really, all I wanted was one last adventure, one last battle, one last horizon. But I have my sword in my hand, my pistol tucked in my belt, and the world at my feet. I shall go, and go quickly, before I realize that I don't want to die. And so it ends that I, Captain Jack Sparrow, die drenched in blood in the arms of a fair maiden, with the sound of my own laughter ringing in my ears. Bring me that horizon.

Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me.

We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot,

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Maraud and embezzle, and even highjack,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We kindle and char, inflame and ignite,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

We burn up the city, we're really a fright,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We're beggars and blighters, never-do-well cads,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

P.S. Sorry about the weird format, but my computer decided to be an asshole. So review. Now.


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